Steelers Gave New DL Cam Thomas A Two-Year, $4 Million Contract

The contract numbers are in for new Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cam Thomas and the former fifth-round draft pick was given a two-year deal worth $4 million, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports.

Specifically, Thomas will have base salaries of $1 million in 2014 and $2 million in 2015 and he was given a $1 million signing bonus in addition.

The 2014 cap charge for Thomas will be $1.5 million and his 2015 cap charge will be $2.5 million.

Thomas is expected to be the backup to Steve McLendon and he will also be groomed to play some defensive end as well. His signing eases the loss of Al Woods, who signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday.

In case you are scoring at home, the Titans gave Woods $1.9 million guaranteed while the Steelers gave Thomas $2 million guaranteed.

Al Woods got 1.9 million guaranteed from Titans. Cam Thomas got 2 million guaranteed from Steelers….. Personally, I think we signed the wrong guy.

Kevin Gobleck

I think the guaranteed amount is 1.9 for Woods and 2 for Thomas

shawn

we are clearly shooting from the hip at this point … just dont see a positive in this one … was really expecting closer to a mil for a back up that played poorly !

Crazy Bone

Once again, proof that this FO is no longer the same. I am going to wait and see if the FO markedly improves the roster from last year. I seriously have my doubts.

shawn

me too !

shawn

What a profession that you can be rewarded multi-million $$ contract for performing poorly and sitting on the bench … nice !

PA2AK

$100k more in guaranteed money…$1mil less over two years. They could be seeing something we don’t in the guy…but then again…maybe all the Al Woods cheerleaders saw something in him the Steelers didn’t.

george

Should have resigned Woods!

steelster

exactly

joed32

I think you’re right, Woods was OK but nothing special.

CW

Not great, but not a nightmare either. It’s about what you expect a backup nose tackle to cost and that’s pretty much what the Steelers were looking for.

James Kling

OK, I know the discussion is that Thomas is strictly NT, and a backup at that, meaning this displaces Fangupo, while our RDE starter remains unknown and DE depth is questionable. In other words, digging us out of no depth problems whatsoever.

But I wonder if Cam could play end, a la Kimo? Kimo was a NT to DE for us, and even though there’s 30# more on Cam than Kimo (330# v. 300#), both are 6’4″ and powerful at the POA versus the run. And just Google picks of 67 and 76, and see if their frames aren’t similar. Set the edge at RDE:

Think of it this way. Left side is the young turks. Heyward is on the upswing, and Worilds flourished as a blindside attacker. Teams can’t ignore that. Put a big celestial body like Cam on the right side and that negates some of the brute strength teams would use to wash out Jarvis, allowing him more leeway to try some moves. Mac is under-rated (per numerous Steelers Depot articles) as a run-stopper, so lock down the edges, let Mac develop in the middle, figure out a solution at ILB across from Timmons. IMO, Williams is a decent backup, but we need serious speed, e.g. Shazier.

Could be a beaster.

joed32

Maybe he wanted to start and the Steelers saw him as a swing player backing up 2 positions.

absteelers

Agree! I like this over Woods. Woods was good but nothing special as a football player. Cam could be special with coaching and his ceiling is higher!

falconsaftey43

I really think he is just a replacement for Al Woods. NT/DE backup. Hopefully they finding a starting DE in FA. Heyward, McLendon, FA TBD Arnfelt, Thomas, Williams. Can probably throw a draft pick into that mix. A decent DE pick up would put the line ahead of last year as Hood was below avg and Heyward and McLendon will have another year of experience.

absteelers

Dave, when you were saying clone CAM Heyward is this what you meant?? I like the signing of CAM.

RMSteeler

Smells like desperation to me right now. Hope I’m wrong.

James Kling

Maybe. Not a lot of FA cap wiggle room left though.

lone pistol

I don’t know why everyone’s in a panic, woods was a decent back up, i never thought he was special, Dwyer just a back up, hood as good as a back up, there still alot of off season and the draft left, retained worilds signed a promising safety, garbed Muncheck (spelled wrong) and have Porter. I am good with what they are doing first they got us out of our cap situation and cut some aged bloated contracts, got younger fast, this is what people wanted myself included, They did alot more then i thought they would be able to do and theres still time left, im giving them some credit.

MOVIEBRAINROT

We will never know the real story of why Al Woods walked, but I like this signing for nothing more than to have a player who has logged actual time in at the position. I do not think this is the answer, but Al Woods was not really the answer either.

I feel better knowing that we have at least some depth.

I can still see us getting one or two more players similar to Cam Thomas in value. A running back or tightend could be next.

greeny

When in the world are they going to work out Worilds’ contract so we can sign someone relevant?

Guest

Switch McLendon and Thomas.

WrightStuff5

Imo we should trade down from #15 and try and recoup that 3rd rounder we lost. My idea is to do that and take Yawin Smallwood as a 3rd rounder to fill our need at ILB.

i know we usually dont play much in FA because of our excesses, but that looks to be in the past and Ben is an obvious restructure thats been talked about all year…

this is just lost money to get in this FA game for another possible game changer like MItchell, instead of waiting for more back-up material!

ScottB

Money that would have been much better spent on Al Woods. Ugh.

Chris S

Interesting….as said…who knows what happened with the Woods situation…maybe he wanted a chance to start and didnt think he’d get that here and went somewhere he could. Who knows. Just a swap of players with close to the same skills/etc for the most part.

shawn

Actually I do think most of us on here felt that WOODS was the ANSWER to our Depth on the DL …. sorry !

Chad H

Wtf, seems like a little much for this guy.

Mike Frantz

Why are you people all worked up over Woods? Steelers spent time on him and he still couldn’t crack the lineup. He barely saw the field on a pretty poor defense. I wouldn’t have minded if he stuck around for little money, but now we got a new guy and let’s see if he can do better. Our line sucked last year and you guys are mad that we lost the backup to our crummy line. Sheesh. I’m not saying I know that Cam is going to be better, but we won’t know until we try it. Maybe SD was asking to him to penetrate or something that we don’t really care about. We have very specific things we ask our DL to do and clearly the FO thinks Cam can do it. Let’s hope he can. But it’s pretty obvious that they didn’t think Woods could do it at a high enough level.

MailboxKid

…. And then not make any money after the age of 30 when the value of their money continuously shrinks if invested incorrectly.

RedCarpetDefense

Might as well have given Albert Haynesworth a call…see if he can muster the athleticism it takes to push himself away from the buffet.

steeltown

I liked Woods potential but I agree, he really never did much except offer versatility. Cam Thomas will have every opportunity to succeed on this roster, he struggled against the run last season but he’s made some plays over his short career and has far more experience than Woods.

steeltown

Why?..because the FO signed a more experienced depth player for less money?

shawn

IF one can’t have any ingenuity, imagination or hardwork to make any money off of a boat load of CAPITAL … then one doesnt deserve the money in the first place …. !

Virdin Barzey

I generally agree with you on most but on this one I disagree with you and cencalsteeler. I personally don’t think they wanted to lose Woods and when they did, we now got Cam Thomas. Woods arrow was pointing up and everyone would agree including yourself.

Some think that the Nation is concerned about names (silly) but in reality its about the play on the field. Cam Thomas isn’t good against the run so this really isn’t an upgrade from Woods for a team that went 8-8 like others would want you to believe.

Love the Steelers, trust the leadership but like Keenan Lewis, don’t like it never will….

MailboxKid

I don’t know if that’s entirely fair. We’re talking about the mental chemistry of a defensive lineman in the NFL. They have been groomed to think and act a certain way. They have put their entire life into this profession, that’s why they are NFL players. Unlike other professions, those qualities you listed, with the exception of handwork, are not prized among his current profession. It’s a lot more difficult when you add in the fact that the most essential time for the brain to take in knowledge is usually up until the age of 18-21 as well as the fact that people usually find they identity at the age of around 28. That puts NFL players in a predicament where all they really know is football and football culture. I just think it’s naive and short sighted to think NFL players have all the skills others have since they have been guided and have prioritized a completely different set of ideals.

shawn

WoW … a little narrow-minded thinking there bud … sorry but they are not neanderthals … i lived breathed and everything football and i for sure dont think of myself as limited as you listed above … and easily the most important age for the mind is at a much younger age … can’t agree with any of your points sorry !

steeltown

Theyre both basically the same age, Thomas has more experience and he has better size. I think they both have about the same potential and upside, except one has more experience. A change in scenery sometimes helps as well.

I have no idea what their plans were for Woods, but the contracts are basically the same, Thomas’ overall is less, but I would think they could’ve easily retained Al Woods if they wanted to, maybe they see Thomas as a better fit or a better player, who knows

MailboxKid

That’s an exaggeration with the neanderthal comparison. Have you played football at the highest level. Have you put your entire life into playing football. I know if I was going to be in any professional sport that I wouldn’t care nor think about the other facets. It takes so much time and dedication to being a football player on the highest level that I believe it is rather difficult to be as well rounded as others. Does that not seem right?

Virdin Barzey

You are right.They basically are the same but I think as you stated earlier Woods is more versatile. Plus I still think Woods showed improvement last year which gave us hope he can improve even more. No he will never be a starter but his versatility came in real handy with the injuries.

Most of us want to see improvement so if they are going to let players go we would hope it would be an upgrade. This might be a side-grade which is better than a downgrade. They might indeed see Thomas as a better fit but I really doubt that. Who knows. Just hope it works out for us.

shawn

there are plenty of careers thats that put in as much if not a lot more time and effort than aspiring and professional football players do … and still well rounded individuals … stop making excuses !

steeltown

Believe it or not despite his size, I have read a few times that Thomas is somewhat capable of filling in at DE… that has not been substantiated on my part

Lem

SD Fan Cam Thomas got good coaching last year and was improving at the end of the year. SD just did not have the money to spend on a #2, when a player in this years draft a third rounder will be almost as good and with coaching. I hope he improves and does a good job for you!

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